1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector suitable for, for example, connections of wire harnesses used in vehicles and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Connectors are employed for connections of, for example, wire harnesses used in vehicles and suchlike. More specifically, among such connectors, there are connectors which are provided with housings and retainers, one example of which has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 9-17484.
In this type of connector, a housing is formed in, for example, a substantially rectangular box shape, at one face of which (for example, a rear face) terminal insertion holes are plurally formed in an array, for insertion of terminals into that face.
An insertion hole is also formed in the housing, for insertion and fitting of a retainer thereinto. The insertion hole is formed to open at, for example, any face apart from the aforementioned one face and an opposing face which is opposite from the one face (for example, at a bottom face). Provisional anchoring pieces and main anchoring pieces, for engaging with the retainer, are respectively provided protruding from an inner peripheral wall of the insertion hole. Of the inner peripheral wall of the insertion hole, the peripheral anchoring pieces and the main anchoring pieces are provided at, for example, two end portions in a terminal arrangement direction, at inner peripheral walls of each of two end portions in a terminal insertion direction.
The retainer is formed to correspond with the insertion hole of the housing. The retainer is provided with provisional anchorage pawls, which correspond with the provisional anchoring pieces formed at the inner peripheral wall of the insertion hole of the housing. The retainer is also provided with main anchorage pawls, which correspond with the main anchoring pieces formed at the inner peripheral wall of the insertion hole of the housing. The provisional anchorage pawls and the main anchorage pawls are respectively protrudingly provided at two end portions of the retainer.
With a connector as described above, when the housing and the retainer are to be fitted together to be joined with one another, first, the retainer is inserted into the insertion hole of the housing and the provisional anchoring pieces of the housing are engaged with the provisional anchorage pawls of the retainer, putting the housing and the retainer into a provisional coupled state (a temporary joined state). Next, terminals are inserted into the terminal insertion holes of the housing, putting the terminals into a state of passing through the housing. Thereafter, the retainer is inserted further into the insertion hole of the housing, and the main anchoring pieces of the housing are engaged with the main anchorage pawls of the retainer. Hence, the terminals are held in place by the retainer, and are in a locked state. Moreover, the housing and the retainer are coupled with a precise positional relationship (a joined state).
However, in such a connector, the main anchoring pieces of the housing and the main anchorage pawls of the retainer, due to shapes thereof, are engaged with extremely small contact areas, similar to point contact. Consequently, when a reduction in size of the connector has been tried, these contact areas become even smaller and an engagement force between the housing and the retainer is reduced. Accordingly, there has been a disadvantage in that the housing and the retainer could not be joined with sufficient strength.
Furthermore, this problem has similarly arisen with the provisional anchoring pieces of the housing and the provisional anchorage pawls of the retainer.